“But…” I clench my teeth together. Why do things always have to be so complicated between us?
“Think of last night as a prelude…” he grabs my arm and leads me toward the tent flap, “…to the inevitable.”
ChapterSixteen
Using a strip of leather and my thumbnail, I mark each day we travel—counting the moons as each night passes. I rise on the eleventh morning and reach for my leather. After I add another line, I sink back to my lumpy mattress.
Ten moons. Ten nights. Ten long days of travel. And I still haven’t thought of a plan for escape. I should have come up with one by now, but as more time passes, it becomes clear that this won’t be easy.
At the end of the eleventh day, we stop as the sun casts a golden light on everything. The Bloodstone choose a campsite near a small river with tall evergreen trees on all sides, providing us with some shelter from the wind.
I help unload the wagon with the cooking supplies, my movements automatic and efficient, even with my hands bound together. As I wait for instructions, I glance up, expecting Everly to be nearby. But she’s nowhere in sight.
First, I look to the left, then the right, but she’s not near the horses feeding them carrots, as she often does.
“Everly?”
No answer.
I call out again, this time louder. “Everly!”
A flock of birds caw loudly, their answer not the one I long for.
The hem of my surcoat trails the ground as I rotate in a circle, but I still don’t spot her.
It’s not like her to disappear.
Fear slams into my chest as a different day invades my vision. Everly running to me for help. Seeing Kassandra lying on her bed, her skin already ashen.
Oh, Kassandra.
You didn’t deserve that.
You deserved to thrive, to marry Luc.
My surcoat lashes my legs as I move to peer around a wagon. I gape at Cenric, standing only a few horse lengths away. Everly stands near him, her attention locked on him.
“I just want to talk to you. I won’t bite,” he says, flashing an easy grin. “Unless you want me to.”
She makes a noise in the back of her throat. “You never want to just talk.”
He grabs her arm, pulling her close. Surprise ripples through me when she doesn’t push him away.
“Cenric,” she says, her voice low. “Someone might see us.”
“I don’t care.” He leans closer and presses a series of kisses along her jawline. She tips back her head and moans.
I gasp and shove a fist against my mouth.
Cenric and Everly?
As I turn away, my shoulder rams into a wall of heat. There is a grunt, and someone catches my arm.The hand sharpens its hold and pulls me until my chest hits his.
Hector.
He leans down until his lips are at my ear. “Where are you going?”
Unconsciously, my hands glide across his chest. “Let me go.Please.”
